Iceheart
by NotUpdating
Summary: Iceheart comes into thunderclan camp looking to stay forever. Firestar soon learns of Iceheart's troubled past and a secret about his beloved Spottedleaf he would wish he hadn't known. Set place DURING the 6th book, right after Tigerstar's death. R&R.
1. A welcome

**This, and my TLK story are the current most worked on stories. I dunno if this will be any good, but if it is...uhh..cheers?**

**I don't own any of this. It was written by the little green men who live under my desk and put it up here. In return they have been given permission to eat any dustbunnies they find. They acknowledge that everything belongs to Erin Hunter, the wonderful souls that she is.**

A small cat padded along into Thunderclan camp. She was a small, lean, lithe cat, and green fire burned in her eyes. A thunderclap illuminated the camp, letting Firestar see the cat. He hurtled towards her, bowling her over. The small cat was able to squeeze out from under him, pressing a paw to his throat, though her claws were sheathed.

"Who are you?" he asked.

The small black cat said nothing. She pressed firmly upon his throat.

"I am Iceheart. I wish to be part of you clan."

**Ehh? Any good? This is supposed to be short, but there will be more soon. I promise.**

**Aneis**


	2. So Firestar?

**Yola, here's more of this story. Next chapter will be her story.**

**WARNING: Luthor and Ferdinand want more dust bunnies, so sorry if things become shorter. They STILL acknowledge that all this is Erin Hunter's, except for Iceheart.**

Firestar paced nervously in his den. He couldn't let a…_loner_ into Thunderclan, what would everyone think? What would Sandstorm think? Would she be jealous? What about Starclan? What if they got angry?

Graystripe mewing at the entrance to the den interrupted his pacing. The gray tom slid into the cave and gave Firestar a report on the loner.

"Well, she's just sitting there, we've cleared out the warrior's den as a holding place for her. She looks pretty harmless, and she's very small. Though those Bloodclan cats were small, too, and look what their leader did to Tigerstar. She still seams harmless, I think you should let her join. A warrior as fine as her is needed at a time like now."

"Graystripe, calm down! I shall let her join, but only if her story is convincing enough. I'm going to go to her now."

Firestar walked out of the den and padded towards the fresh-kill pile. He picked up a vole and a sparrow, and walked into the warrior's den. He dropped the vole in front of the she-cat.

The she-cat's eyes widened. She snatched up the vole and devoured it quickly.

"So, Iceheart, why do you want to be part of my clan?" asked Firestar.

"I came because I am an orphan. My mother, missing. My father, missing. By now they are most likely dead. In fact, I wouldn't be an orphan if they weren't."

Firestar was taken aback. The small she-cat wasn't anywhere near being an apprentice, so she must have been old as him, or maybe a bit younger.

"So, Firestar, can I tell my story to your clan?"

**DUN DUN DUNNN!!!**

** Luthor: More dust bunnies!**

**Ferdinand: Now!  
**

**Aneis : Shut up!**


	3. Meeting

**Authors Note : Sorry, I didn't get to put in her story in THIS chapter, I'll put it in the next.**

** BIG BIG BIG thanks to Erin Hunter, where I copied this chapter from their books.  
**

Firestar gazed down from the Highrock as the cats of ThunderClan emerged from their dens and gathered below him. He could see from their horror-struck expressions that the news of BloodClan's threat and Tigerstar's terrible death had already spread throughout the camp. He knew it was his duty to give them hope and courage, but he did not know if he could, when he had so little for himself.

The sun was going down, and the rock cast a long shadow across the sandy floor of the clearing. The scarlet rays of the dying sun made it too easy for Firestar to imagine that the camp was already washed in blood. He wondered if it wasn't a sign from StarClan, that all his friends, all his warriors, would be destroyed. After all, the warrior ancestors had shown no sign of anger when Scourge had ripped Tigerstar's nine lives out of him and let all his life's blood run into the sacred ground at Fourtrees.

_No,_ Firestar told himself, to think like that was to despair and do nothing. He had to go on believing that BloodClan could be defeated.

Clearing his throat, he began to speak. "Cats of ThunderClan, you have heard of the threat that faces us. BloodClan has come from Twolegplace and laid claim to the forest. They want us to run away and let them take over the forest without a fight. But three days from now, we will stand together with WindClan and make BloodClan fight for every mouselength of the forest."

In the clearing below, Cloudtail leaped to his paws and yowled agreement. Several cats echoed him, but Firestar could see that some glanced doubtfully at one another, as if they were not sure that they had a chance of surviving against BloodClan and their fearsome leader. Iceheart looked intently at Firestar, for she didn't know anything about BloodClan.

"What about RiverClan and ShadowClan?" asked Whitestorm. "Will they fight? And if they do, which side will they be on?"

"That's a good question," Firestar replied. "And I don't know the answer. The TigerClan warriors ran away when Tigerstar died."

"Then we need to know where they went," Whitestorm meowed.

"I could slip over into RiverClan territory to see," suggested Mistyfoot, getting up from where she sat at the base of the rock. "I know all the best places to hide."

"No," Firestar ordered. "You're in more danger over there than any cat. We don't know if TigerClan are still persecuting half-Clan cats, and I don't want to lose you. ThunderClan needs you."

For a moment Mistyfoot looked as if she would have liked to argue, but she dipped her head and sat down again as Whitestorm meowed, "We can find out most of what we need from border patrols."

"Firestar nodded. "That's your job, Whitestorm. I want extra patrols along the ShadowClan and RiverClan borders. Their main task is to find out what the other Clans are doing, but they can keep their eyes open for BloodClan as well. If Scourge decides to attack before the three days are up, I don't want us to be caught napping."

Whitestorm flicked his tail in agreement. "Consider it done."

Firestar could see that his deputy's calm efficiency had encouraged the rest of the Clan, and he went on quickly before their fears could return. "Next, every cat in the Clan must be prepared to fight."

"Even the kits?" That was Sorrelkit, springing eagerly to her paws. "Can we be in battle? Can we be apprentices?"

In spite of the danger they were in, Firestar suppressed a purr of amusement. "No, you're too young to be apprentices." He told Sorrelkit gently. "And I can't take you into battle. But if BloodClan win, they'll come here, and you'll need to be able to defend yourselves. Sandstorm, will you be responsible for training the kits?"

"I will, Firestar." Sandstorm's green eyes flashed with approval at Sorrelkit and her littermates, Sootkit and Rainkit, who scrambled up to join their sister. "They'll be able to give BloodClan a nasty surprise by the time I'm finished with them."

"What about Brightheart?" Cloudtail called. "Her fighting moves are coming along well."

"I want to fight in the battle," Brightheart mewed determinedly. "Can I, Firestar?"

Firestar hesitated. Brightheart was stronger now, and she had been training hard with Cloudtail. "I'll think about it," he promised. "Are you ready for an assessment?"

Brightheart nodded. "Anytime, Firestar."

"We'll fight with you, too," Mistyfoot put in from where she sat near the base of the rock. Featherpaw and Stormpaw, sitting beside her, straightened up and looked determined. "We're all strong enough, thanks to you."

"And I'll fight," Iceheart added. "I would love to help you defend your forest."

"Good. As for the rest of you"- Firestar's gaze swept across the clearing-"warriors, apprentices, and elders, you have three days to prepare. Graystripe, will you supervise a training program?"

His friend's eyes lit up and his ear pricked. "No problem, Firestar."

"Get a couple of the others to help you…and rotate training sessions so Whitestorm has enough cats for his patrols, and hunting." Glancing around, he spotted the medicine cat sitting near the fern that led to her den. "Cinderpelt, are you ready to look after the wounded?"

Privately, Firestar knew there was no need to ask; he had never known Cinderpelt _not_ to be ready, but he knew it would reassure the other cats to hear he say so out loud.

The look Cinderpelt gave him showed that she understood. "Everything's prepared," she replied. "But there'll be a lot to do once the fighting starts. If you could let me have an apprentice to help, that would be great."

"Of course." As Firestar wondered which apprentice to choose, his gaze rested on Fernpaw, and he remembered her gentleness and sensitivity to other cats' injuries. "You can have Fernpaw," he announced, and saw Dustpelt flash him a relieved look. "Fernpaw, if that's okay with you?"

The gray she-cat dipped her head in assent. Firestar beckoned to Iceheart to join him.

Iceheart stood up, and padded over to the Highrock, and sat down.

"As you can see, there is a cat here. Iceheart is her name, and she wishes to join our clan," Firestar mewed. "She's asked to tell her story."

Iceheart gazed at everyone. She started liking her chest, as she did, a white splotch slowly appeared. "I am called Iceheart. A name given to me by my sister."

**There. Next chapter will be her story. I swear. On my heart. On...FIrestar. On Osiris. **

**Aneis**


	4. Her story

**I finally got more done. Happy!**

**I own nothing but Iceheart and the plot.**

Iceheart gazed at everyone. She started liking her chest, as she did, a white splotch slowly appeared. "I am called Iceheart. A name given to me by my sister."

"I come from the land far to where the sun rises. Our family would live together and hunt, and we would almost never interact with other families."

"Families? You mean you didn't have Clans?" Sorrelkit gasped.

"No Clans, like you have," Iceheart answered. "We lived in families. The mother, father, and kits all lived and hunted where they wanted. My sister was older than me, and I don't know anything about my mother or father, except my mother believed in StarClan. My father didn't believe, but my sister did, too."

"Your father didn't believe in StarClan?" asked Firestar. "Where was he from? What did he look like?"

"My father did not believe in StarClan. We were from…the east. All I remember is that he learned ways of changing his pelt color, by making it brown, or rubbing berries in it to stain it some color. I never knew what he really looked like….

"Here is my story:

"I was born one moon's travel to the east. My sister, Hope, was older than me. I don't actually know if she's my sister. She seemed as old as Mother, though mother was young. Hope was a tortoiseshell, her pelt was dark-ish, and she was playful. I remember that she was very good at giving names, like how she named me Iceheart. It was my sister's idea to name me Ice, but my mother wanted to give me a Clan name. So I was Icepaw. My family taught me fighting, and hunting, and I soon became Iceheart. My sister did give me Iceheart as a name, for she said I had a heart made of Ice, and my pelt proved it…"

Iceheart _did_ have one white splotch on her, a white mark upon her chest, where her heart was. Firestar looked on, intrigued.

"One day, we were out hunting, when they never came back. My mother vanished, as did my father, and Hope and I were left alone. We had to fend for our selves, doing everything together. Another year passed, and suddenly Hope disappeared. I was left by myself for many seasons, when I heard another family talking about, 'Some cat went to join the Clans.' Ever since, I've been trying to find all of you. I found ShadowClan and RiverClan, but they formed together, no? I was chased away. I traveled on, and I got to WindClan, but they said they had too many mouths to feed. I traveled on, tired and despairing, and I slept in an old badger set. When I awoke, I came here, and this is where you find me. I hope you take me in, for now, I just wish for a home."

Firestar gazed at the she-cat. "Yes." He said. "Since, apparently, you have already been given training, you will still be Iceheart, but we need to make sure that you are able to fight. I will do that."

**There. More.**

**Aneis**


End file.
